DP World wins UK court ruling in Djibouti row
This is the third legal ruling in relation to the Doraleh Container Terminal following two previous decisions from the London Court of International Arbitration
dubai — Global trade enabler DP World has won another crucial ruling from a UK court in its ongoing legal battle with Djibouti’s port company.
The High Court of England & Wales has granted an injunction restraining Djibouti’s Port de Djibouti S.A. (PDSA) from treating its joint venture shareholders’ agreement with DP World as terminated.
The High Court has further prohibited PDSA from removing directors of the Doraleh Container Terminal (DCT) joint venture company who were appointed by DP World pursuant to that agreement, a statement from Dubai Government’s Media Office said on Wednesday.
The legal battle between DP World and PDSA erupted when the government of Djibouti illegally seized the Doraleh Container Terminal from DP World in February over a dispute dating back to at least 2012.
In the latest ruling, the UK court has ordered PDSA not to interfere with the management of DCT until further orders of the court or the resolution of the dispute by a London-seated arbitration tribunal.
The injunction is in the wake of a move by PDSA to call off an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on September 9 to replace DP World-appointed directors of the DCT joint venture company.
This is the third legal ruling in relation to the Doraleh Container Terminal following two previous decisions from the London Court of International Arbitration, all of them in favour of DP World.
PDSA is owned in majority by the government of Djibouti and its CEO is the chairman of the Ports & Free Zones Authority of Djibouti. Hong Kong-based China Merchants is the minority shareholder in PDSA. The ruling recognises that although PDSA is the majority shareholder of the DCT joint venture company, it is DP World that has management control of the company, in accordance with the parties’ legally binding contracts.
The ruling makes clear that PDSA cannot act as if the JV agreement with DP World has been terminated and it cannot appoint new directors or remove DP World’s nominated directors without its consent.